There was only one house in this entire village that had many colourful tapestries hanging in the garden. Zen approached the cosy cottage confidently and knocked on the front door, preparing himself mentally to bring up the topic of buying cotton cloth for Father Clarence and a good reason he should have a discount for it.
When the door opened, a young lady with a scarf over her head appeared. She looked somewhat worried but managed a smile when she saw a guest.
“Hello! How can I help you?”
Zen expressed his concern at the maiden’s reddened eyes. “Are you alright?”
Annabel, the weaver, quickly wiped the sides of her eyes and shook her head. “It’s nothing. Was there something you needed from me? It’s a little too far out for
Zen was not a fool. He would not confront the green slimes head-on. With only a short sword to assist him, Zen had to be smart. First, he needed to find a safe place to hide in case things went south.If he only had to kill one green slime, Zen could do it easily by climbing onto a tree and pouncing on an unsuspecting slime. However, he was hunting a hundred slimes now. That trick would not work every time, and Zen would take too long to kill a hundred slimes. He needed something more efficient.The terrain that green slimes like to spawn at was to Zen’s natural disadvantage. The green slimes spawn in the meadows along the main road, obstructing villagers and merchants from using it.From observations, the green slimes would not spawn within two kilometres of the village. However, the protection area of the vi
There was nothing to fear. Even if he died, it wouldn’t be the first time. Besides, Zen was confident that his new title would protect him from going bankrupt even if he had to revive a hundred times before killing this fat blob.The gamer in him awakened and rose to the challenge after Zen discarded his cowardly civilian mindset. It was time for his superior gamer persona to take over.In every monster within games, Zen understood that they were programmed with a behavioural pattern. The last time he encountered an area slime boss, he did not have the time to study the attack pattern.Now, Zen looked back at the slime as he ran in circles around the willow trees by the pond. This area slime boss was chasing after him without much thought process. If it were a little wiser, it would stop chasing Zen in circles
Despite all the good boss drops, Zen still had no kills for normal green slimes. If they were alone, Zen could easily take them out. However, if they ganged on him in a group, he was still slightly afraid. His training in Claymore never taught him how to deal with multiple enemies at the same time. Zen found that it might be scarier to deal with many low levelled slimes at the same time than one area boss.His mind couldn’t analyse their movement patterns all at once, and Zen knew his clumsy body could not react fast enough to them even if this was a game. Except for moving around in the kitchen, Zen had very little coordination sense.Yet, here he was. The gamer looked at his quest and inventory tabs, wondering how he should approach this. Should he farm five normal slimes first and return to town to turn in his Slime Hunter quest to the shady merchant o
On his way back, Zen killed several more green slimes using his hit and run technique. He almost had a free trip back to the starter town when his health bar fell to an alarming five percent after one scuffle. It was unglamorous, and Zen felt ashamed of getting bullied so badly. Then again, he could not be blamed. Who could expect getting ganged upon by three consecutive waves of green slimes out in the open? Their respawn rate was too quick, and Zen barely got away from them.If he had to make a comparison, these slimes were almost as powerful as medium-sized dogs. Zen really was no match against those animals, and he groaned, feeling pain everywhere. Thankfully, this wasn’t real, or he would be bruising badly with some cracked bones as he bandaged himself.First aid was a handy skill to have, and Zen was thankful that he did not procrastinate to complet
Charlie and Remi replied at light speed. Zen was still crafting his advanced healing salve when they demanded to know his location.Unable to leave the chapel until he finished his task, Zen told them to meet him in the chapel of the very first spawn town. He was surprised to hear that they were both on the fifth floor but knowing they had two combat powerhouses in their party, it wasn’t very surprising. Party Freedom was a rather well-balanced mix of members who could cover each other’s blind spots, and Zen was tempted to ask if Jessica and Benjamin wanted to join too. However, he decided against it for now.After all, he still had yet to hear from the Seer about the new information he discovered about NPCs and side quests.Father Clarence was busy minding his own business when two newcomers visited his
“How long have you known about the existence of side quests?” Charlie threw his arm around Zen’s neck to wrestle him into a light chokehold position.It wasn’t very difficult for the Gambler to give the short gamer a noogie as payback for keeping all the good information to himself while everyone else fumbled like clueless bats in this virtual dungeon game.Zen apologised and begged for mercy when the taller teen offered no reprieve from the chokehold. It did not hurt as much, but it was definitely uncomfortable. Sadly, not even Remi pitied him. If anything, the insomniac might propose doing it himself to take out his obvious frustrations on Zen.Father Clarence gave out the quests like what Zen mentioned, and after receiving their first side quest, Charlie let Zen go.
Liu Feng and Akiko were tense. He had no idea what happened between them earlier, but Liu Feng’s general expression changed when he heard Zen.“There you are!” the Seer smiled gently and took a real look at Zen before reaching out to pat Zen’s head softly.“You’re a lot shorter than I thought you were now that I can see.”His statement made Zen freeze. “What do you mean?”Akiko tilted her head to one side. Didn’t Zen tell Liu Feng to make his area boss drop into an accessory because he knew what it could do?Liu Feng paused. His smile faltered. Many questions hovered in everyone’s minds. Misunderstanding deepened, and this time, there was no way for them to con
“Nobody can be certain of the truth from a watered-down source,” Zen told them. “I have reasons to believe that while the claims of the Gorski’s family’s children experimentation and torture are true, there is more than meets the eye.”Liu Feng and Akiko held their breaths as Zen explained his perspective. From analysis, the scientists from the Gorski family fit the criteria as curiosity-driven individuals with a desire to solve many of civilian’s problems. They were one of the Godfather’s most loyal supporters of wanting to do good as guardians of their territory. However, not many people believed them after the truth of their results were leaked.Even so, Zen’s theory was only a theory. Without concrete evidence to clean the Gorsi family’s crimes, knowing the truth was useless.